Not sure.... the original iPods shipped with a firewire cable... the dock connector hasn't changed.
If you could get ahold of one of those old cables (eBay?) it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to TRY it, see if it works.

From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that!" -...

On the original iPod you had to use Firewire for syncing and charging. On later iPods Firewire could be used as well as USB for syncing and charging. On less old iPods it can be used for charging only. On recent iPods/iPhones it can't be used at all.

On the original iPod you had to use Firewire for syncing and charging. On later iPods Firewire could be used as well as USB for syncing and charging. On less old iPods it can be used for charging only. On recent iPods/iPhones it can't be used at all.

So depends which iPod you're using...

I am sorry I should have given more of an overall description of my issue. However I believe you answered my question. I have had an iPod since the original 5 gigabyte version was released in late 2001 so I am familiar with its history.

I have a 5th generation 60 gig iPod which, like you said, will not connect to my mac via firewire for transfers. I get a message that says it only supports USB for transfers (2.0 I presume).

I had taken a hiatus from computing more or less for the last 3 years or so. I am just getting back into the digital world. I am currently using an old Powerbook G4 and it does not have USB 2.0. Is there a way to install USB on the G4 Powerbook? I will look into this. Thanks.

I am sorry I should have given more of an overall description of my issue. However I believe you answered my question. I have had an iPod since the original 5 gigabyte version was released in late 2001 so I am familiar with its history.

I have a 5th generation 60 gig iPod which, like you said, will not connect to my mac via firewire for transfers. I get a message that says it only supports USB for transfers (2.0 I presume).

I had taken a hiatus from computing more or less for the last 3 years or so. I am just getting back into the digital world. I am currently using an old Powerbook G4 and it does not have USB 2.0. Is there a way to install USB on the G4 Powerbook? I will look into this. Thanks.

PowerBook G4´s have USB 1 with either 400MBits/s or 12MBits/s transfer speeds and USB 2 is backwards compatible with the older USB 1 so it should work to transfer, just slower, and you might not be able to charge the device with the USB 1 port on older machines. So you might need the USB wall charger to charge the iPod.

You need the USB cable that should have came with the 5th generation iPod and iTunes installed on the PowerBook G4 provided the OS X version isn´t too old, then that needs to be updated.

Depending on what version the PowerBook G4 is, it can only handle version 10.4 or 10.5 of OS X, not the latest 10.6 Snow Leopard currently sold in the Apple Stores as that´s a Intel only processor operating system. Your PowerBook G4 has a PowerPC processor.

iTunes runs and is being updated for OS X version 10.5, I don´t know about 10.4 though.

PowerBook G4´s have USB 1 with either 400MBits/s or 12MBits/s transfer speeds and USB 2 is backwards compatible with the older USB 1 so it should work to transfer, just slower, and you might not be able to charge the device with the USB 1 port on older machines. So you might need the USB wall charger to charge the iPod.

You need the USB cable that should have came with the 5th generation iPod and iTunes installed on the PowerBook G4 provided the OS X version isn´t too old, then that needs to be updated.

Depending on what version the PowerBook G4 is, it can only handle version 10.4 or 10.5 of OS X, not the latest 10.6 Snow Leopard currently sold in the Apple Stores as that´s a Intel only processor operating system. Your PowerBook G4 has a PowerPC processor.

iTunes runs and is being updated for OS X version 10.5, I don´t know about 10.4 though.

So I guess we need to know what PowerBook G4 you have.

Thanks for the info SpotOn.

My Powerbook G4 is a 17" 1 Ghz Titanium. I believe its titanium, its was given to me as a hand me down just this past year. I am positive it only has USB 12 Mbits/s. I will have to go out and buy an iPod USB cable. I currently only have the older firewire one. That is why I ask is there a way to use firewire to transfer files that and its higher transfer rate then USB.

Thanks for the info. Again, Is there a workaround to install USB 2.0 on the old Powerbook G4?

My Powerbook G4 is a 17" 1 Ghz Titanium. I believe its titanium, its was given to me as a hand me down just this past year. I am positive it only has USB 12 Mbits/s. I will have to go out and buy an iPod USB cable. I currently only have the older firewire one. That is why I ask is there a way to use firewire to transfer files that and its higher transfer rate then USB.

Thanks for the info. Again, Is there a workaround to install USB 2.0 on the old Powerbook G4?

THanks again.

Looks like your machine is pretty old. It has the 12Mbits/s USB 1, it can run 10.5 but with 1Ghz processor it will be slow, especially for iTunes. Not to mention the slow transfer speed too.

There isn´t a cost effective way to upgrade your USB 1 to 2 neither far as I know. And the drive space, 60GB, could be a problem as well. I wouldn´t waste my time filling it with music/content/etc.

It still sounds like it´s a good basic machine, like a netbook, but content can eat up CPU, GPU and drive space in a hurry.

If your budget is tight right now, perhaps a Mac Mini as a desktop machine and keep using the G4 as a portable until it drops dead?

Still need the iPod USB cable too. Remember to backup the entire iTunes Folder to another drive occasionally, be a bad thing to lose all your play-lists, music and such.

Your 5th gen iPod will support charging through FireWire, however. I'd probably recommend using that Belkin USB card that was recommended for your connectivity needs, and keep the FireWire cable around for charging, since the FW400 port has a better power throughput than USB.